A funny thing happened on the way to the altar ...
H
oly matrimony: It’s a celebration of the love and committment of two people starting off their lives as one. It’s a somber occasion. Not to be taken lightly. Yet what would wedding would be complete without a few hijinks to send the couple on their way? The pranks, the mishaps, the disastrously poor planning — these moments of levity carry us through the heavy stuff, and the stories get passed on through generations. More to the point today, without these moments of comic relief, readers throughout the Quad Cities area would be holding a thinner, drabber Golden Times in their hands right now. Thank you to the reader who suggested this feature and to all the couples who shared their stories.
Some blood was shed
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Doug and Rebecca Havens ponder his ball-and-chain on their wedding day.
and laughs. shackles is a full post-wedI would love to have a ding story of its own. copy of a guest’s picture — Doug and Rebecca we posed for: Me holding Havens, of Lewiston, up the ball in victory as married in 1976 Doug looked caught. The final unlocking of the Continued on PAGE 6
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In the 1970s, the pictures came after the ceremony so the groom wouldn’t see the bride in her dress. Now it was time for pictures. Doug’s uncle had a family tradition he wanted to keep. He and several of Doug’s cousins and friends interrupted our walk from the sanctuary to the reception hall. An all-out brawl ensued in the grass. My parents, my pastor and myself heard my handsome husband cut loose with words I had never heard him say. Some blood sprayed the white brick Orchards Baptists Church. Doug’s uncle’s nose was kicked in the heated tussle. The same nose my mother, Sherry Larsen, the nurse of ear-nose-and-throat specialist Dr. Daniel Miller, had helped put stitches in the day before. When the skirmish ended, Doug’s ankle was shackled to a very tight, heavy, locked, homemade iron ball and chain. Doug needed a lot of coaxing to continue with the pictures. The chain ran behind everyone’s feet in attempts to hide the ball behind a long dress or keep it out of the picture. Art Andrews, the photographer, got the necessary group shots, and we moved on to the reception
Jerry Bartlow 208-743-9464
GOLDEN TIMES
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